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Rabat – Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) of Benguerir hosted, on November 4, a colloquium dedicated to the topic “Thinking and Practicing Sciences Today”, as part of the university’s 2021 “Science Week,” taking place from November 1 to 5.
The guest speaker of the seminar was Ahmed Abbadi, PhD graduate in Islamic studies from Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech. He was appointed director of the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs in 2004, and now specializes in the teaching of comparative history of religions and Islamic thought.
“Any impactful act in this dimension of existence requires two conditions: vision and application. This is what gives birth to applied visionaries, which are what allow us to guide our thinking towards a given destination,” said Abbadi to begin his speech.
In order to illustrate his ideas, Abbadi quoted the famous Islamic scholar Mohammed al-Ghazali’s book “On Legal Theory of Muslim Jurisprudence”, where he explains the four levels of existence of any object, being or idea in this world: its truth in itself, the establishment of the notion of it in the mind, the expression of it and lastly its transcription.
Ahmed Abbadi discussed the topic of superintelligence and Artificial Intelligence (AI) by sharing the ideas of well-renowned philosophers and technology-oriented people such as Nick Bostrom and billionaire Elon Musk on the dangers and future risks posed by machine-intelligence.
“How can we use the modern process of influence to solve the five burning issues of our time?” asked Abbadi, referring to the necessity of orienting our thinking, as human beings, towards saving the environment, stopping war, reducing waste and eliminating fear and addiction, rather than towards aimlessly following social media influencers or celebrities.
The guest speaker also highlighted the most crucial types of knowledge humans should possess, which include existential assimilation, intellectual capacity, emotional intelligence, social intelligence, as well as international and material knowledge.
“We need to understand this multi-generational composition of our society to be able to enjoy the expertise compiled by each and every one of us,” said Abbadi.
The morning seminar ended with the showing of a video by American astronomer, Carl Sagan, which briefly explores ideas on the vastness of the universe, planet Earth and the human species.
The event, which was held in-person at UM6P Benguerir, was live streamed on both YouTube Live and Facebook, to allow people from all over the country to benefit from the Science Week.
